US 4,782,832 AGranted

Nasal puff with adjustable sealing means

AssigneePuritan-Bennett Corporation

InventorsRussell L. Trimble, Roger J. Dolida, Frederick R. Rose, Philip M. Metzler

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Abstract

An improved nasal puff assembly is provided which is of particular benefit in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and which is characterized by a gas-delivery puff which fits only in the nose of the patient and is therefore of relatively small size and can be comfortably worn. The nasal puff of the invention advantageously includes a plenum chamber having an inlet and a pair of laterally spaced outlets; a pair of soft synthetic resin nares elements or pillows are operatively coupled with the spaced plenum outlets and are designed for ready adjustability so that the effective positions thereof can be altered individually for permitting custom fitting of the nares elements with respect to the nares of different patients. In this way a relatively small number of different sizes of nasal puff can be modified to meet the needs of virtually all patients.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A nasal puff, comprising:

a plenum chamber including structure defining an inlet adapted for coupling with a source of gas, and a pair of separate, spaced apart gas outlets in communication with said inlet;
and
a pair of elongated gas delivery elements each having a structure defining gas flow passageway therethrough and respectively operatively coupled with a corresponding gas outlet for conveying gas from the outlet through and out said passageway,
said elements each being configured to present an end portion for insertion into a respective naris of a patient to receive said gas,
there being means for selective alteration of the effective position of each of said elements individually for permitting custom fitting of said elements with respect to the nares of different patients,
said gas delivery element alteration means including, for each element, an elongated bellows-type corrugated section forming a part of said passageway-defining structure and located between the corresponding end portion and said plenum chamber,
each of said corrugated sections including at least a pair of axially spaced apart outboard peripheral wall segments, an inboard wall segment disposed between and located radially inward of the outboard wall segments, and a pair of wall stretches interconnecting said inboard wall segment and both of said outboard segments, said wall stretches extending generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the associated gas delivery element.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.